Roxas

Roxas is the market town on Palawan's east coast, about 2.5 hours north of Puerto Princesa, and the place where most buses and vans on the El Nido highway stop for a break. It calls itself the cashew capital of the Philippines, and the pasalubong stalls around the terminal show it.

Offshore lies Green Island Bay, a marine protected area of small inhabited islands, mangroves and seagrass where dugongs still feed. At low tide the twin sandbar off Johnson Island stretches for around 2 km.

Tourism here is only starting: a Department of Tourism rest area opened on the highway in 2024, and there are pension houses rather than resorts in town. That makes it cheap, quiet and a good base for a night if you want to break up the long drive north.